"Nova Scotia's decision to make all adults in the province potential organ donors unless they opt out has sparked a backlash from some Canadians.

"The goal is to increase organ donations from deceased donors to save lives of more recipients. Nova Scotia is striving to raise donation rates above 20 per cent, levels found in European countries such as Spain, officials said. About 90 per cent of Canadians say they support organ and tissue donation but less than 20 per cent have made plans to donate.

"Under presumed consent, the default decision is to donate organs on death. But families would continue to be approached to confirm the donor's wishes, said Dr. Stephen Beed, medical director for Nova Scotia's critical care organ donation program.
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"The question is whether it's a good fit for Canadian society, said Kerry Bowman, a bioethicist at the University of Toronto.

"My first concern would be, this is a multicultural society and there are cultures and religions that really have a lot of concern about either organ donation or the steps before organ donation or the definition of death," Bowman said.

"For instance, Bowman said, the Catholic Church is very supportive of organ donation but sees presumed consent as problematic because it reduces the autonomous decision to give."
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